A germophobe is someone who has an irrational fear or aversion to germs. A germaphobe is an individual who is excessively concerned about cleanliness and has a fear of germs. Mysophobia is an extreme fear of germs (Cleveland Clinic). If any of those words describe you, it’s okay; you don’t have to tell me—just read on!

We talk to the young folks in our families often about eating out, or rather NOT eating out, in favor of buying food and cooking it. But buying uncooked food and preparing it at home comes with its own set of risks. Other than kitchen food safety, within the produce supply chain there are many opportunities for pathogens to attach to the food we will eventually eat. This is the stuff that recalls are made of, that puts the “ick” in sick.

How many times is your food touched by others before you eat it? After a fruit or vegetable matures, farm workers pick it, rinse/wash it and then pack it in containers. The containers get loaded on a truck and one to two packing and unpacking operations later, it ends up at a grocery store. There it is place in the produce bin, where shoppers squeeze, thump, roll and drop the items that don’t meet their standards. Then you come alone, pull a bag, and drop some produce in. By the time it ends up on your plate, your food has been touched a minimum of six times by other people, seven including you.

If you are indeed concerned about pathogens, always wash your hands and wash your produce before consuming it. However, you can take another step: grow your own food.

By growing your own food, you can shorten the food touching process and eliminate the food-touched-by-others chain. It does take yard space, work and time commitment though so realistically, and for most people, home vegetable gardening provides a way to reduce, not fully eliminate that chain. If you want to take up the challenge, we provide herbs and vegetables that satisfy the germa/o/myso phobic quality and cleanliness standards.

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ColorBlindWork is a micro plant nursery and produce delivery service, Come see us at the Canton Farmers Market on June 29th or pre-order online. Let’s grow something!